25/10/2018 - 8,000 strike for equal pay in Glasgow

Around 8,000 workers in education, care, cleaning and catering services took their second strike day on Wednesday against a discriminatory pay scheme.

The first day of action on Tuesday saw Glasgow City Council services grind to a halt and a protest of up to 10,000 march through the city centre.

Other workers, including janitors, those working in environmental services and waste management rightly refused to cross picket lines. Any victimisation of those who made this moral choice must be fiercely resisted by the union movement.

Female Unison and GMB union members have fought for 12 years for their jobs to be evaluated equally to men’s jobs. They have demanded a financial settlement for pay they have been denied.

Over the last decade, the council has, under different political leaderships, fought legal claims for equal pay all the way to Scotland’s highest court.

But at the start of this year, after all legal avenues backed the women, the council’s current political leadership promised to negotiate a settlement for the past injustice.

After 10 months and more than 20 meetings, UNISON and the GMB said enough was enough. Victory to the strikers!